


In Another Life

by immortalpramheda



Category: Westworld (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-28 13:41:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15708375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/immortalpramheda/pseuds/immortalpramheda
Summary: Maeve and Hector live a peaceful life on an isolated homestead with their daughter... that is until horror turns up at their doorstep.





	1. Our Life

Maeve feels a tug on her hair. She opens her eyes, wiping the sleep away, and rolls over. Her daughter is standing beside the edge of the bed, looking at her with her big brown eyes.

 

“I’m hungry,” her daughter says, rubbing her stomach. Right on cue, a rumble erupts from her small body.

 

Maeve smirks at her daughter. She rolls back over to face her husband. His eyes are shut and he is sleeping soundly. She doesn’t want to wake him. She carefully sits upright.

 

“Shh,” she says to her daughter, putting her index finger up to her lips. “We don’t want to wake dada.”

 

She copies her mothers action and puts a finger to her lips, which are in a big wide grin, making her eyes crinkle at the corners. Then she quickly runs out of the room, her feet pattering down the corridor.

 

Maeve pushes herself up and looks down at her husband. She gives him a quick kiss on the top of his head and pushes herself off the bed, careful not to pull the covers off him. She grabs her dressing down and makes her way towards the kitchen.

 

Her daughter is sitting expectantly on a stool at the kitchen bench. Maeve opens the pantry and stands with her arms crossed as she faces her daughter.

 

"So, princess," she says. That was the nickname for their daughter. She is smothered by their love and brings so much joy into both her and Hector’s lives. She is not spoilt by things, they are not a wealthy family at all, but they give her all the love in their heart, and in return she brings so much light into their lives. “What would you like for breakfast?”

 

She gives a mischievous grin to her mother. “Ice cream.”

 

“ _Not_ for breakfast.” She turns back and rifles through the cupboard. “How about…”

 

“Dada lets me have ice cream for breakfast,” she says, jumping off the stool and heading towards the freezer, standing on her tiptoes as she tried to reach it.

 

“Well, your father is not awake right now,” Maeve replies, gently pushing her out of the way and getting a selection of healthy options out of the pantry.

 

Her daughter’s eyes dart towards the corridor and Maeve knows what she’s thinking.

 

“Don’t even _think_ about it,” she says sternly. “He had a long day at work yesterday and needs his rest."

 

She sighs and plops herself back up onto the stool. She leans her head on her hands and looks at her mother sadly.

 

“Don’t look at me like that,” she says, shaking her head. “Your father spoils you too much.” Not that she blamed him, she was a beautiful little girl, she deserved the world, and that’s what they tried to give her.

 

Maeve puts a container of oats in front of her daughter and leans her head down so they are both at the same eye level. “How about oatmeal?”

 

Her daughter protests by scrunching her face up in disgust at that suggestion.

 

She straightens up and smirks at her. “How about… purple oatmeal?”

 

Her daughter perks her head up at that.

 

“If you go pick some blueberries from the garden…” she says, beginning to pour some oats into a saucepan.

 

Her daughter jumps down off the stool and lands with a loud thump that vibrates the floor. Maeve winces and hopes that it didn’t wake Hector. She runs out the back door, leaving it wide open.

 

Maeve watches her out the window, sticking her arms into the blueberry bush, as she stirs the oatmeal. Her daughter comes back inside and she instructs her to wash the blueberries and then drop them into the pot.

 

Her daughter watches in awe as the blueberries cook down and gradually turn the oats purple, a look of wonder and childlike innocence on her face.

 

Just as she’s about to serve the oatmeal, she notices her daughters hands are stained. She grabs a rag and scrubs them, but the stain will not come out. She decides to leave it, eventually with all the grime that accumulates on her hands, it will fade.

 

Her daughter sits at the dining table eating her breakfast while Maeve cleans up the kitchen. She listens to the clanging of the spoon on the bowl of oatmeal, and the sound of the brush scrubbing the dishes. Sounds that she feels comfort in hearing, sounds of their life.

 

“How is my princess this morning?” the familiar voice of her husband says. The way he says ‘princess’ is something that she will never get tired of hearing.

 

Hector is standing in the doorway, looking at their daughter with such love in his eyes. He walks over to her and crouches down so he’s no longer towering over her. He grabs a napkin and wipes her lips. “You’re going to turn purple.”

 

Their daughter giggles, a sound that she relishes in hearing. She wishes that she would never grow out of it.

 

Hector turns towards Maeve. “Why do you let her eat this? Her lips are going to turn purple. It looks like she’s wearing lipstick.” That gets another fit of giggling out of their daughter.

 

Maeve crosses her arms and looks at her husband. “It’s better than ice cream.”

 

He stands up and looks down at her. “Princess, what do you think, do you _want_ to turn purple?”

 

She shrugs and doesn’t reply to that. She continues shovelling oatmeal into her mouth, the most adorable smile plastered on her face.

 

Hector walks towards Maeve and her stomach begins to drop. Even though they’ve been married for years, everytime he comes near her feels like the first time.

 

“Good morning, my love,” he says to her. His voice never fails to make her feel this way.

 

“Good morning,” she says breathlessly as he pushes her back against the kitchen bench.

 

Hector glances back at their daughter, who is focussed on her food and not paying attention to them. He takes advantage of the short moment they have and kisses Maeve hard.

 

Maeve hesitates at first, because their young daughter is sitting right _there_ , but she can’t help but give in. When they pulled apart, they look back at their daughter who is still focussed on her food, oblivious to what they were just doing.

 

“Princess,” he says, looking over his shoulder. “When you’ve finished eating why don’t you help mama with the washing, huh?”

 

She nods eagerly and smiles, showing her purple stained teeth.

 

He turns back to Maeve and cups her cheek. “You’ll have a good day, won’t you?”

 

“The days are never as good without you,” she replies, brushing a stray piece of hair behind his ear. She loves spending time with their daughter more than anything, but without Hector things feel incomplete.

 

He narrows his eyes at her as he places his hand on her waist. “I’ll try to finish early,” he whispers in her ear.

 

She tries to form a coherent sentence in her head but it proves to difficult in this moment.

 

There is a ping of metal and scrape on the ground. They turn towards the noise and see that their daughter has finished her breakfast. Her mouth is stained purple, and she tries to rush towards the laundry basket.

 

“Ah ah ah, not so fast,” Hector says, standing in her way. Maeve hands him a napkin and he scrubs her lips, getting most of the stain out, only leaving a faint coating of colour on her lips. “There, now you’re good to go.”

 

She rushes towards the laundry basket and picks it up in her arms. It’s big and awkward, but the weight isn’t too much for her to handle. She wobbles her way towards the front door.

 

“I’ll be right out,” Maeve yells out. She faces back towards her husband as he pushes her against the wall. “I need to…” she starts, but trails off.

 

Hector smirks at her, wanting more, but also knowing they have things to do. But she wants him now… when he makes her feel like this that’s all she wants.

 

“You need to go to work,” Maeve says, trying to push him away. “And I..” She sighs as his lips find her neck.

 

“I can wait a few more minutes,” he says, his voice husky.

 

“Okay,” she sighs, giving in.

 

“Mama, dada!” they suddenly hear their daughter yell.

 

They immediately pull apart and run out the front door. Their daughter is standing on the front porch, her whole body stiffened. The basket of clothes is tipped over and the clothes are all over the porch. Hector runs over to make sure she’s okay.

 

In the distance, they see a group of people walking towards the homestead. Maeve puts her hand up to block the sun from getting in her eyes as she tries to get a closer look.

 

She crouches down to her daughter. “It’s just a family passing by, there’s nothing to be afraid of princess.”

 

They lived in an isolated area and rarely got people passing by, that’s why it was such a shock to her. As the people get closer, it becomes obvious that it’s a couple with a young child, just like their family.

 

“Look princess,” Hector says, placing his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. “They have a son around the same age as you.” He turns to Maeve and squeezes her hand. “I’ll stay until they leave.”

 

She doesn’t like holding him up, but really appreciates the gesture. She squeezes his hand firmly in reply. She’s always felt safer when he’s around.

 

“Hello,” the man says. “We were just passing through. A very lovely home you have.”

 

“Thank you,” Hector replies warmly. “I’m Hector, this is my wife Maeve, and our daughter, Anna.”

 

Anna is very shy and hides behind Maeve, her dressing down concealing most of her. She tries to encourage her to come out, but Anna refuses to move.

 

The man tries to sneak a peek at Anna. “I’m Buck, this is my wife Sharon, and our son, Riley.” He glances down at his son. “Their daughter looks around the same as you.”

 

Riley looks down nervously, and it occurs to Maeve that he reminds her so much of her own daughter. She turns around and crouches down so that Anna can no longer hide. “Why don’t you go show this boy your dolls? I’m sure he’d be excited to see them.” She turns towards the boy. “Wouldn’t you? It's okay,” she says gently. "She doesn’t bite.” For some reason that phrase seems familiar to her, although she doesn’t remember ever saying it before.

 

That gets him to smile and he looks up at both of his parents. His parent nod and he reluctantly takes a step forward. Anna begins walking around to the back porch, and Riley follows closely behind.

 

“A very beautiful daughter you have there,” Buck says, giving a smile, revealing two golden teeth.

 

Maeve smiles. “Thank you. You son seems very kind.”

 

“He is,” Sharon says, with a heavy southern accent.

 

Hector stays close to Maeve, knowing that strangers sometimes make her uneasy. There is a bad memory she has, although it’s most likely only a nightmare, but she never remembers the details. “Where are you headed?”

 

“The mountain ranges that way,” Buck says, nodding in the general direction. He checks the watch on his wrist. "We actually better keep moving if we want to get there before sunset. Riley!”

 

They hear footsteps on the porch as Riley and Anna, holding her two dolls, coming running back. They both seem in good spirits.

 

Riley’s looks at Anna. “Thank you for showing me your dolls."

 

Anna nods and rocks back and forth on her feet. She’s always had a very introverted nature and shows how she’s feeling with her facial expressions. In this case, she’s smiling.

 

“It was really great to meet you,” Sharon says. “A very lovely place to stop by.”

 

“Bye,’ Maeve says, waving at them.

 

Hector puts his arm around his wife and all three of them wave goodbye to the guests. Maeve didn't realise her heart was beating so fast while they were here, and only now does it begins to slow down.

 

Hector turns toward her. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

 

She shakes her head. “No, they were very nice.”

 

The visitors were becoming smaller, silhouetted against the mountain ranges in the distance.

 

“I _do_ need to go now,” Hector says, giving Maeve a quick peck on the cheek.

 

“Go,” she says, pushing him away. “I’ll see you later tonight.”

 

He cant resist, he kisses her hard on the lips. Then he crouches down to their daughter. “Princess, promise me you’ll take care of mama until I get home.”

 

She nods, swaying back and forth while holding her dolls. “I promise, dada.”

 

He smiles at her and gives her a quick kiss on her forehead. He stands up and adjusts the hat on his head. He lowers it with his hand as a goodbye. “Well, I’ll see you girls later.”

 

Anna and Maeve wave as he walks away. They watch until he is out of sight and then Maeve turns to her daughter. It still feel surreal to her sometimes that the two of them, through their love for one another, created her. She wishes he was home more, but he had to work, they needed to make an income somehow.

 

Maeve sighs. She can’t imagine life without him. She doesn’t ever want to be a single mother. But for some reason she feels as though she knows exactly what it feels like to be one.


	2. Turned Into a Nightmare

After Maeve and her daughter had finished hanging out the washing, they headed back inside to cool down. It was sweltering hot outside. One of the downsides to living here close to the desert, the heat was sometimes overwhelming.

 

Maeve gets Anna settled at the dining table with a colouring book and crayons. She changes into a white dress and begins to clean up the kitchen.

 

Just as Maeve is finishing drying the dishes, Anna wanders over and tugs on her skirt. She shows her the drawing, a little girl carrying a doll, a self portrait of herself perhaps.

 

“Great work, Anna.” She gives her an encouraging pat on the head.

 

Her daughter looks up at her with her glistening eyes. “Can I brush your hair?”

 

It was one of Anna’s favourite things to do, and it occurs to her that after all the events this morning, she didn’t actually get a chance to.

 

Maeve smiles at her as she dries her hands on a tea towel. “Of course.”

 

Anna runs to the dresser and Maeve runs after her playfully. She grabs the hairbrush and then grabs Maeve’s hand and drags her out onto the porch.

 

She orders Maeve to sit on the edge as she stands behind and begins to brush her wild and curly hair. Maeve smiles as she feels the sun washing over her face, along with the careful light touches of Anna’s hands as she pulls the hairbrush down.

 

Once she has finished, Anna leans over Maeve with the most beautiful smile on her face. “Can we go for a walk?”

 

Maeve smiles at the upside down face smiling back at her, and takes a deep breath. “Lets go.”

 

The hairbrush clanks to the ground as Maeve stands up. She picks up her daughter off the porch and puts her onto the ground.

 

Maeve leads the way towards the long grass. Anna hurries up and takes her hand. She smiles at her mother, the sun shimmering on her skin making it look translucent.

 

They walk through the long grass on the gorgeous day. Anna lets go of her hand and starts twisting around, dancing, the way she loves to. They sit down and pick some long pieces of grass and look at them in wonder as the sun shines down on them.

 

Suddenly, something seems wrong. Maeve notices some shadows appear in the distance.

 

Anna follows her mothers gaze and puts her arm up to block the sun. “Is it that family again?” she says with a hint of excitement in her voice.

 

Maeve squints to try to get a better look. They’re on horses, so she doesn’t think it’s them. “No, it’s not.” Suddenly she feels scared and knows she needs to follow her gut instinct. “We need to get back inside.”

 

Maeve grabs firmly onto her daughters hand and they walk fast back towards the house. The horses footsteps begin to get louder, and Maeve begins to run, causing Anna to struggle to keep up on her short legs.

 

The horses overtake them and block their way. Men with long hair and white paint all over their bodies. They look familiar, they’re the people who haunt Maeve’s dreams. She needs to run, she needs to protect her daughter from them.

 

Maeve trips over a bit of wood sitting on the ground and loses her grip on Anna’s hand. Suddenly she feels the coldness of a blade on her forehead. “Run!” she yells to her daughter. She takes comfort in the fact that Anna obeys and runs as fast as her legs will take her.

 

Maeve struggles against his grip and screams out. She notices someone else emerging on a horse, not dressed like the others. He aims his gun towards her and shoots. She braces herself for the pain, but it doesn’t come. Instead the grip on her loosens. She turns around and sees that the man holding her was shot in the head.

 

She doubles over, breathing heavily, watching the horror around her unfold. She makes eye contact with one of them and has flashbacks to her dreams. Or rather, her nightmares.

 

She pushes herself up and unsteadily runs towards the house. “Anna!” she yells out.

 

She slows down and look around frantically. And then she sees her. She’s sitting on the ground. She’s tripped over a fallen branch and her knees are bloody and bruised. But she’s alive.

 

Maeve grabs her arm firmly and together they run back towards the house. They run up onto the porch and Maeve slams the door shut and locks it.

 

She lets got of Anna’s hand and takes the shotgun off the wall and hesitates. It’s Hector’s gun, she’s never had any need to use it before. She hopes she remembers how to shoot the way that Hector taught her.

 

She checks the cartridge and its empty. She riffles around and finds some bullets. In the window, the man who haunts her dreams appears. She gasps and then turns away, trying to ignore the fear that is slowly overtaking her body.

 

She guides her daughter over to the piano and they both push up against the wall and crouch down to the floor.

 

They see the man walk past the window, and then the front door opens. But it’s not him. It’s not the person who haunts Maeve’s dreams. It’s the man wearing the black hat.

 

The door creaks open, and Maeve’s eyes widen, preparing for what she needs to do. But she freezes. She’s always anxious when it’s just the two of them when they have visitors. She always feels safer with Hector nearby. But he wasn’t here now. He didn’t know they were in danger. He wasn’t going to come to their rescue, she knew that. So it was up to her to protect them.

 

Maeve's heart starts beating fast as the man walks towards them. He’s wearing all black and has a knife in his hand.

 

She stumbles to get the casing into the gun. He flips the knife around in his hand as he looks at them.

 

Maeve gets the bullets in and aims the shotgun at him. She shoots, but the bullets bounce right of him.

 

The man in black smirks. She shoots again, but they don’t even wound him, he barely acknowledges them. Maeve keeps shooting but the bullets are useless. She gives up and instead uses her body to shield her daughter.

 

Everything seems to move in slow motion as the man in black walks over and and stabs her right in the heart. She screams out, a sound from inside of her that she never knew she had. She tries to scream at her daughter to go and hide, but no words come out. She wraps her hand around the knife and looks at the man.

 

Her daughter senses that she’s in danger, so she gets up and runs. She stops to look back at her mother. Maeve is so weak and loosing so much blood and all she can do is stare.

 

The man pulls his gun out and clicks it into place. Anna looks at her mother and gulps. She looks terrified. Maeve is still unable to speak. She struggles against everything inside of her, but no words will come out. She can’t protect her daughter.

 

Maeve watches helplessly as the man fires the gun and her daughter falls to the ground. Maeve yells out in anger and frustration. Her princess… gone. She couldn’t protect her… she failed as a mother. This couldn’t be happening. It felt like a dream. It _had_ to be a nightmare.

 

Maeve looks over at her daughter, the blood stained floor beneath her. Anger boils up in her blood and she feels a sudden burst of strength surge through her body. She grips the knife as hard as she can and pulls it out of her stomach. Blood begins pouring out of the wound as she yells out in pain.

 

She stands up weakly, blood trickling down her legs, and almost falls as she lashes out at the man with the knife outstretched. She doesn’t even stop to see what that did to him, she rushes straight over to her daughter and picks her up her limp body.

 

She hobbles her way out the front door and down the stairs of the porch. Anna’s arms and legs dangle lifelessly as she looks out at the horizon and makes her way towards the field, Anna’s favourite place to play.

 

But it’s too far, her body is too weak to keep walking. Maeve collapses onto the hard, dusty ground. There are indents on the ground and she falls into one of them. There is dirt as far as she can make her eyes see… and then everything goes black.

 

The life leaves Maeve’s body, just the way it had already left her daughters.


	3. This Can’t Be Real

Hector listens to the sound of his horses hooves on the ground as he rides the familiar trail home. It’s quiet and peaceful, as it always is. He smiles as the homestead comes into view. The home of his family, where they will greet him warmly when he gets back.

 

He dismounts his horse and ties him to a pole of the stable. He walks towards the house, but suddenly he gets a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something doesn’t feel right. Things are quiet, as they always are, but it seems a bit _too_ still.

 

He makes his way to the back door. He pushes the door open and closes it carefully behind him. There is no so sound of Maeve in the kitchen, or of dinner being cooked. It’s unusual… something isn’t right.

 

“Maeve? Princess?” he says loudly.

 

He takes his gun and holds it firmly as he walks towards the kitchen. He feels something slippery on the ground and looks down. There is a smear of blood on the floor. His stomach drops and he races in. There is more blood and he almost slips over on the pools of it covering the floor.

 

“Maeve!” he yells, looking around frantically. "Anna!"

 

There is no answer. and then something on the floor catches his eye. Anna’s doll. He picks it up and it’s covered in blood. Close by there is a bloody knife, one that he doesn't recognise.

 

He starts to panic. He follows the blood on the floor, and notices it seems to run towards the front door. He runs out as fast as he can, clutching the doll in his hand. “Maeve! Princess!”

 

He runs down the front step porch steps and sees drops of blood on the dirt. He follows them out into the meadow. Through the tall grass, he notices some lumps of the ground, the setting sun illuminating them. He drops Anna’s doll and runs towards them.

 

He runs over markings in the dirt, which he has never noticed before, but he doesn’t have time to stop. He needs to get to them. His breaths are in heaving slumps and his legs feel like rubber.

 

Once he reaches them, he screams out. Maeve and their daughter are huddled up together in the dirt, their eyes closed, their bodies lifeless.

 

He falls to his knees and caresses his daughters limp body. The front of her dress is covered in blood. He rips the fabric apart and sees the bullet wound right in her heart.

 

“No… no!” he yells out, an animalistic scream escaping his body.

 

The blood is dried, it must have been a while. There’s no saving her now. It’s too late. She’s too far gone. She kisses her on the forehead. “I’m sorry, princess.” He runs his hand over her hair, her beautiful hair that she inherited from her mother.

 

He blames himself. He wasn’t here today to protect them, he should have stayed home. Especially after the unexpected visitors this morning. He got a weird feeling when that family visited. He should have trusted his gut instinct and not gone to work.

 

He carefully moves Anna’s body aside as her takes Maeve in his arms. There is blood covering her abdomen. He tears her skirt and sees a large stab wound. His body shakes as he begins to wail.

 

“Maeve,” he whispers. “The love of my life…”

 

He gathers her up into his arms and tears begin falling down his cheeks. And then suddenly everything freezes. Hector is frozen in place, on one knee with Maeve in his arms, in the process of standing up.

 

“This is so fucked up,” a voice says.

 

Hector is paralysed, unable to move, but he can hear everything. He wants to attack, to protect his family even though they’re already gone. Even though it’s already too late. But whoever spoke is an enemy, for all he knows it’s the person who killed them.

 

A woman appears in his line of vision. She turns her head. “Why do you let him do this? Murdering a family in cold blood?”

 

“He _owns_ this place,” a deep voice says. A man appears next to the woman, dressed in white with a red apron and a surgical mask over his mouth which makes his voice sound muffled. “Let’s get this over with.”

 

Another man appears from behind, his face close to Hector’s, he can feel his breath on his neck. “He killed the wife and daughter while the father was out.” He stands back and looks on in admiration.

 

Hector wants to pull his gun and shoot him right then and there, but he’s still frozen in place.

 

“He came home to find his wife and child dead,” the woman says, sympathy coating her voice.

 

“Relax,” the man close to his face says. “They’re robots, they don’t feel pain.”

 

“They emulate it,” she says, disgusted. “They feel pain the way that we’ve _programmed_ them to feel it. Their pain _is_ real.”

 

All these things they’re saying make no sense to Hector. What is this about pain, and why are they dressed like this? And what do they mean _programmed_?

 

“Think what you will,” the man with the deep voice says, shrugging. “At the end of the day, they’re still just _things_.”

 

None of what they’re saying makes any sense to Hector. Maeve is suddenly pulled out of his arms. He tries to keep a firm tight grip on her, but he still cannot move.

 

“She was still alive after she was stabbed,” the man carrying Maeve says. “They’re _supposed_ to die when they’re stabbed like that. Behaviour and programming will need to have a look at her and determine why she didn’t.”

 

Maeve is taken away out of Hector’s line of vision. He feels tears coming on. She kept fighting until her final moment. That sounds like the woman he loves.

 

The woman frowns as she walks towards Hector. She puts her face close to his and whispers in his ear. “I’m sorry they’re so insensitive. I can’t even begin to imagine what you’re going through.” She stands back and looks at him. He is unable to do anything but stare blankly at her.

 

“Are you _really_ talking to him as though he’s human?” the man with the deep voice says from a distance.

 

The woman ignores him and places a warm hand on Hector’s face, cupping his cheek. “May you rest in a deep and dreamless slumber,” she says softly.

 

Hectors vision begins to blur as a warm relaxing feeling goes through his body. He fades out and everything goes black.


	4. Reprogrammed

“Our boss was at it again?” Adam says, taping his foot impatiently.

 

Adam is the head of the Behaviour and Diagnostics sector at Delos. He is tasked with examining hosts behaviour and how they act in the park. This case was a wife and daughter that were murdered by a guest, and the husband coming home to find them slaughtered. Their reactions to this situation were not exactly as they should have been. It was his job to examine them and figure out why they did not follow their programming.

 

He looks Hector up and down. They had pulled him out of sleep mode and wiped his memory from the last day, but he was still not acting normal. He was sitting stiffly with his eyes wide open. He was awake, his vital signs showed that he was responsive, and yet he was still sitting there blankly.

 

In humans, this would be called shock. But he was not a human, he was a host. Sure, their programming was based on carefully studying human behaviour, but it was near impossible to replicate it perfectly. He’d never seen anything like this before in all his years working here.

 

“I’ve studied human behaviour extensively and I would _definitely_ diagnose this as shock. I didn’t think we were here with the hosts yet,” he says, walking in circles around Hector. “Even though we wiped his memory of finding his wife and daughters bodies, he is _still_ reacting like this.”

 

“What do you suggest we do?” Belle says, a junior programmer, come to evaluate how to alter the hosts programming to get them back on track.

 

He stops circling the host and turns towards her. “You wiped their memories of _everything_ associated with the incident, correct?”

 

She nods. “We tried, sir. But sometimes certain memories get cached and they can have flashbacks. And you know the hosts, they have photographic memories.”

 

He puts his hand on his chin in thought. “Best to completely wipe him and change his narrative then?”

 

“That seems like the best idea, sir,” Belle says, turning towards the glass wall looking into the other evaluation rooms. “I think all three of them should be completely wiped and reprogrammed, and put into seperate narratives.”

 

Adam contemplates that as he exits the room, Belle closely following on his heels. He walks into another room, where there are two behaviour employees watching Maeve through the glass. Her memory had been wiped of the incident, but she was still acting frantic. She was stomping around and looked distraught, and she was calling out for her baby. But nothing was working. The programmers had her profile open and were altering things, but nothing was making her calm down.

 

“Okay,” Adam says, as she begins banging on the glass. “We need to completely wipe her and change her narrative.”

 

“Any narratives in particular you suggest, sir?” Belle asks, clicking away on her tablet.

 

“Something _completely_ different.” He narrows his eyes at Maeve, watching her closely. “She’s much too pretty to be a homestead mother, she’s much more suited to something different… perhaps a madam at the Mariposa.”

 

Belle takes down notes. “Madam at Mariposa, got it, I’ll let narrative know and we can start working on it.”

 

He turns towards the room that their daughter is in. Her memory had been wiped too and she seemed back to normal, just a little shaken. There was an employee crouched down next to her, handing her a glass of water and talking softly to her, in which she was nodding in response.

 

“Leave the girl as she is, but give her a new mother,” he says. Her programming seemed fine, no need to completely change it.

 

Finally, Adam turns back towards Hector, who is still sitting frozen in place. “As for him, he has that rugged look about him. A husband and father never truly suited him.” He pauses and grins. “He’d be _perfect_ as a bandit.” He takes one last look at Hector and then turns away. “Tell Sizemore he gets his dream narrative.”

 

Belle takes some notes and then switches off the tablet. “Thank you, sir. I’ll go organise everything.”

 

Adam turns back to Maeve, it was fascinating that despite being stabbed, and despite having her memory of the incident wiped, she was still calling out for her daughter because she believed she’d been killed. It was like nothing he’d ever seen before in the hosts.

 

He turns to the other employees. “Go get Ford, I think this is something he’ll want to see.”


	5. New Life

Maeve blinks her eyes open. She’s back at the Mariposa Saloon, the place she has owned and worked at for over ten years now. It all seems like a blur, she doesn’t even remember what life was like before it.

 

There are people coming in and out, flirting with Maeve and the other madams, getting drunk and causing scenes. Nothing out of the ordinary.

 

Suddenly, there is a kerfuffle coming from outside. Maeve looks out the window and what she sees doesn't surprise her. It’s the bandit from across the river, the one on all the wanted posters plastered around town. He’s come to rob their saloon, no doubt.

 

But Maeve isn’t worried in the slightest. She doesn’t know why, this has never happened at the Mariposa before. She should be scared, so why wasn’t she?

 

Everyone rushes to looks out the window. Maeve stays at the bar with a smug smile on her face.

 

When the bandit comes barging into the saloon, everyone is terrified. But Maeve stays still with her arms crossed, even when the bartender is shot right next to her. As the bandit comes walking up to the bar, she stays calm. Somehow, she knows that he won’t hurt her.

 

She looks him up and down, in his tight pants and leather jacket, as he takes a glass and skulls a drink. Maeve inches closer to him and speaks.

 

What she says makes no sense to her, it’s not something she’d ever rehearsed saying before. It’s not something she could ever _imagine_ herself saying. And what he says reiterates that too. It felt as though this conversation between them was planned to happen. Like it was fate… or something else.

 

The words get lost in her mind as she watches him pour himself another drink. But there is something about his voice that sounds familiar. She’s heard it before, but she doesn’t remember where. He’s a bandit, she was owner of this saloon, why would she ever associate with someone like him?

 

Maeve doesn’t have a chance to figure out why she knows when she is tasked with showing them where the safe is. She sighs and goes along with it, trusting that if she does what they say she won’t be harmed.

 

As they go upstairs and attach ropes to the safe, Maeve stands there and watches the bandit. _Hector_. The name comes to her. She doesn’t know how she knows that, she never bothered to read the wanted posters closely, but she knows for _sure_ that is his name.

 

She watches as Hector hoists his gun back onto the sling on his back. The way that he moves seems familiar, but again she can’t pinpoint why.

 

“You’re a low-down son of a _bitch_ ,” she says, without even meaning to. She doesn’t understand what is happening to her today. Words are coming out of her mouth unprovoked.

 

“I know,” Hector breathes as he walks towards her. “I know we both believe the same thing.” He picks her up by the waist and moves her over an inch.

 

Maeve keeps her hands on her hips as the safe crashes down right next to them. Her heart starts beating fast. His touch is familiar, she’s felt it before. His big firm hands on her waist… she knows how that feels. She looks up at his face, her neck tilted back in a familiar position. She looks him in the eyes, trying to find recognition in them.

 

“No matter how dirty the business, do it well,” Hector says, meeting her eyes.

 

They stay staring at each other with something unspoken between them. Does her remember her too?

 

He gives a whistle, but doesn’t break eye contact with her, and the safe is pulled out of the saloon. He tips his hat to her and then walks out past her. His shoulder goes right past her nose and a scent wafts up. She stays still and frowns. She knows that smell. But how could she?

 

She closes her eyes and thinks back, trying as hard as she can to _remember_. Why does he seem familiar, this man who she knows for a fact she has never met before? She’d remember if she had met him, wouldn’t she? She’d seen him on the wanted posters, that’s the only explanation, there was no other way to make sense of it. They only _met_ for the first time today. And yet, she was _positive_ that she knew him.

 

She’d felt his hands on her before, she’d had someone make her feel that _exact_ way before. And that scent… unexplainable feelings went through her body when he was close.

 

As she’s day dreaming, she remembers something else. A memory, but how can it be? A little girl with _him_ , running out in an open field. Her hand up as she blocks the sun and watches them, her face in a wide smile. He sees her and comes over and wraps his hands around her waist and kisses her hard.

 

Maeve opens her eyes suddenly. A _memory_? How could that be a memory? She’s worked here at the Mariposa for as long as she can remember.

 

But it felt as though he was a part of her past. She couldn’t explain it, but despite what her mind was trying to tell her, she believed deep down in her heart that it was true.

 

As crazy as it seemed, she was positive that they knew each other, that they had loved each other, in another life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to everyone for reading :)


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